


Long Overdue

by AlyssiaInWonderland



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bucky is just stressed about bills, Fluff, Getting Together, Kissing, Light Angst, M/M, Mutual Pining, and Steve swoops in to rescue him, and they're adorable as heck, i mean REALLY light
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-11
Updated: 2018-05-11
Packaged: 2019-05-05 10:42:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14616695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlyssiaInWonderland/pseuds/AlyssiaInWonderland
Summary: Bucky is stressed because he really doesn't get how money and rent work in the modern day. Steve swoops in to save him from it all, and they end up (finally) getting together!Literally just some cute fluff and a mild rant about how difficult and scary adulting/bills are <3*For a short period of time this work was up three times due to a technical hitch with posting stuff on Ao3! Sorry about that - I kept the version that had the bookmark on it!*





	Long Overdue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nerdqueenenterprise](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nerdqueenenterprise/gifts).



The paper clutched in Bucky’s metal arm is held so tightly that it’s entirely possible it will rip. Typically, this would be when he’d realise that he’s gone a little overboard with the strength, and calm down, but instead he’s pressing down harder and harder, his breathing becoming progressively more erratic.

There’s a paper and pencil in front of him, with a mess of dates and dollar signs and sums, and he stares at it unseeingly. Everything is so different, now, so new, and it feels like he’s having to work out how to afford his first apartment all over again. An overdue bill in his metal hand and bank statements scattered across the desk – hell, he’s only just managed to even open an account, and he’d had to call in Tony Stark just to get his old account from the wartime reopened. He’s only just gotten back on the grid, and he’s already worried he’s going to be thrown straight back out.

What could he even do? Steve, well, he’d probably be fine, move into the Avengers tower or something. But Bucky? It was hard enough to ask Tony for help reopening his account; he couldn’t move in with him, not as things stood with them right now, and Bucky was pretty sure it wasn’t just his self-loathing that told him he deserved that. And so it came to this – desperately trying to find a way to pay bills due in two days, with a job that wasn’t morally reprehensible. 

“Hey, Buck, what’s going on?” Bucky listens to the rustle of Steve hanging up his coat, and forces himself to release the letter in his hand.

“Nothing.” His voice is alarmingly rough, and not just with disuse. He looks down, cheeks starting to burn red with shame.

“You sure about that?” Steve’s hand rests on Bucky’s shoulder, warm and concerned and caring as ever. “You can talk to me about anything, you know that. I’m with you, bud. To the end of the line, remember?” Steve smiles at him encouragingly, and at this point Bucky is certain Steve’s already read the sums and the crumpled letter. He always was good with numbers and reading, even before the serum. Hell, in Bucky’s opinion, the serum changed jack shit about Steve apart from his physical appearance, and even that stayed mostly the same. The same Stevie he crushed on so hard that he would have followed him anywhere – and in fact had.

“Yeah, yeah,” Bucky says, shrugging out from Steve’s hand. “Couldn’t you be a bit less perfect for once and just let me be miserable?”

“Now you’re just being a brat on purpose.” Steve says, still leaning in, his hand hovering over Bucky’s arm, reluctant to touch and break the boundary Bucky had given, but clearly also unwilling to simply leave him to stew in his semi-frenzied state.

“Like you’re not, when it pleases you!” Bucky retorts, electing to make his defence a good offence. Sadly, Steve is, as ever, above all that petty nonsense. One of the many reasons why he’s way too good for Bucky, and should definitely let him be.

“This isn’t about my being a hypocrite – not that I’m saying you’re right of course –“  
  
“Of course.” Bucky snorts, interrupting Steve’s speech, eliciting an eyeroll from his friend.

“But,” Steve continues, valiantly. “How about you listen to my suggested solution before you go off into the panic attack you seemed to be heading for when I came in.”  
  
“Steve, I know you’re all about forgiveness, but I’m not gonna ask Stark to do more than he already has for me.” Bucky says, already digging in his mental heels, preparing his stubbornness – and conveniently ignoring how Steve has already managed to make him calmer.

“And I wouldn’t make you.” Steve says, earnestly, finally letting his hand fall back to Bucky’s shoulder. This time, Bucky doesn’t have the heart to shrug him off, instead letting Steve’s arresting blue eyes scan him. He determinedly doesn’t blush at the intense scrutiny. “But, Natasha wants a roommate, and she doesn’t live in the Tower. The place doesn’t require an advance, that’d give you about a month to figure yourself out before rent is due.”  
  
“I don’t know, Steve. Everyone’s done so much for me already, and I-“ Bucky begins, only to be interrupted by Steve giving his shoulder a little shake.

“Listen, Buck. You’re not in this alone. Nat…it’s her story, but she’s been where you are. She gets it. Maybe I don’t, so much,” Steve allows, looking away briefly – a move that Bucky notices because it’s so uncharacteristic for how straightforward Steve usually is. “But the point is…she’s here for you. We all are. Especially me.”  
  
“Stevie, I…” Bucky isn’t sure what to say, has no idea how to deal with the particular mixture of competence and humility that Steve brings to everything he does. He takes in the concern, the kindness, wrapped up in a stubborn idiot who doesn’t know when to quit, who Bucky has loved since pretty much forever. “Alright. I’ll think about it.”  
  
Steve grins like Bucky just handed him the world on a golden platter. “Great! I’ll let Nat know – she’s been begging me to find her a roommate for ages!”

Bucky can’t help it; he’s transfixed on Steve, on his broad, careless smile and the way his hair sticks up just a bit, the angle of his cheekbones and the shadows cast by the light coming in from the window. Sometimes, when he looks at him, it feels like a physical blow to his chest, pushing him back into his chair and trapping his limbs in a haze of stunned admiration. God, but Steve is gorgeous, always has been. The fine hairs on the back of his forearms are glinting a little in the sunlight, and his clothes have clearly been picked out for him by Nat because there is no way he picked the casual t-shirt and jeans combination all by himself – especially not since Bucky knows he’s got a leather jacket hung up in the hallway.

“You okay?” Steve is frowning at him, has clearly noticed Bucky’s staring, and Bucky starts, his chair skidding away as he stands abruptly.

“Yeah, I’m fine, no worries, Stevie.” Bucky tucks a stray hair behind his ears, looking away from Steve desperately, and nearly jumps out of his skin again as he feels Steve’s hand on his. The skin contact is instantaneously electric – and maybe he’s a bit touch starved, he’s been a Soldat for so long, and maybe it’s just because it’s Steve. “What-“ He looks up and sees Steve has moved closer to him, so close they could just lean in and – Bucky realises he’s stopped breathing.

Steve’s hand slowly interlaces their fingers, and Bucky is only human, mostly, and his eyes drop right to Steve’s slightly parted lips. His expression hold such a sweet cast of concentration, and Bucky smiles involuntarily. Steve’s other hand curls softly around his waist, and Bucky lets out a huff of the breath he’s been holding, breathing in again just as quickly, dizzily. “Stevie…” He sounds breathless, ridiculous, but he can’t control it, and Steve’s face is getting closer and closer and he can’t regret how easy he’s being when Steve’s lips are on his, warm and soft, and he thinks Steve could wrap him around his little finger with ease and Bucky would beg him to never stop.

Steve pulls away, and Bucky lets out a little whine of protest, wants to chase his lips and preserve the sparks of pleasure at their contact. Bucky’s free hand, his metal arm, has become tangled in the front of Steve’s t-shirt somewhere along the line, and he absently notes that Steve’s lips are redder now, his pupils dilated, eyes such a vibrant blue it almost hurts. His eyes flutter shut, blonde eyelashes brushing his cheekbones, and Bucky feels the warmth of his breath as Steve prepares to speak.

“I’ve been wanting to do that since forever, Bucky.” Steve is whispering, and he sounds just like the vulnerable kid who dragged Bucky into dozens of fights. “I just…when you say my name like that, like it’s precious and you’re breathless and I don’t think I misread this situation, because I’ve wanted you for literally over a hundred years and I know I was meant to just be helping you but then you were all, well, you, and I-“  
  
Bucky started smiling around about the moment Steve admitted to wanting the kiss, and didn’t stop. He raises his metal hand, pressing a finger gently to Steve’s lips to quiet him. 

“You didn’t misread me, Rogers. You waltzed into my life, fixed my housing problem, and kissed me, so don’t you go getting shy on me! I’ve wanted you for about that long, too, you know.” Bucky lets his hand slide back to tangle into Steve’s shirt, unable to tame the grin on his face or the leaping of his heart. God help him, he almost wants to giggle, if that wouldn’t be ludicrous on him. “Now how about we go back to that kissing thing, hm? You weren’t half bad, for a newbie.” He waggles his eyebrows in a joking seduction, and to hell with it all, he lets out a distinctly giddy giggle, and he doesn’t even care.

“Oh thank god,” Steve grins, and then blinks, his expression narrowing into what Bucky recognises, worriedly, as his  _fighting_  face. “Not half bad for a newbie, huh?” He says, challenge written in every inch of him. The abrupt change in his posture to confident and cocky makes Bucky extremely aware that he’s possibly just antagonised his long-time crush, and equally probably underestimated the ease with which Steve can hit every single one of his buttons.

Steve’s arm, wrapped around Bucky’s waist, tugs him in just a little closer, the hand on his shoulder releasing Bucky’s and sliding to support the back of his neck. It tangles in his hair, using it to guide Bucky in for another kiss, and he has to use every inch of his concentration to make sure his knees don’t buckle as Steve runs his tongue across his bottom lip. He gasps out a moan, and Steve seems to take this as an invitation, licking into his mouth and deepening the kiss, until Bucky is thoroughly, happily overwhelmed by the sensation of Steve’s lips on his, barely aware that one hand is trapped clutching at Steve’s t-shirt while the other clutches desperately to his back.

The kiss recedes, and Bucky is left held firmly in Steve’s arms, panting, every stretch of skin sensitised to his touch, and utterly dazed.

“Not bad for a newbie, then, Buck?” Steve sounds unbearably smug, and Bucky half-heartedly rolls his eyes.

“Not bad.” He agrees, a smile curling his lips yet again. He hasn’t smiled so much in a long time, and he thinks he might like the thought of getting used to it. “But also, on general principle, fuck you.”  
  
“Hm. Maybe later. We’ve got time.” Steve winks at him, and then they’re both giggling helplessly, wrapped up in each other, finally, the letter and bills forgotten.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey y'all! Hope you enjoyed this! :)
> 
> As ever, comments and kudos feed my dark soul <3


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